I wasn't going to get involved in this dialogue, but since someone finally
wrote what I was thinking, I thought I would add my two cents.  I have been
surprised by many list members' responses to the issue of low paying museum
jobs...especially those who suggested that individuals should get a second
job if they really want to work in  museums. (Personally, when I am not at
work, I would rather be involved in my own art, studies, reading, lovelife
than to have to take a second job to make ends meet.)  I think, as the
writer below stated, if you demand a certain wage, you can get it or close
to it. There is a misconception that museum workers can't make as much as
other types of workers because of course, museums don't have money.
Certainly, we are not going to make high salaries like our corporate
counterparts, but if we keep supporting the notion that museums are poor,
ergo, we have to be poor, then we keep ourselves locked into a certain
standard...one that I whole heartedly disagree with.

Example:  I realized that I had been suckered into believing that I
wouldn't make enough money to live on when I accepted my first museum job
at $18,000 (in NYC, which meant two pay checks to cover my rent), and I
took a $4,000 pay cut to accept the job in the  first place because I
really wanted to work in museums.  It took me eight years to finally earn
$29,000 and when I finally left, they listed my job at a higher salary than
what I was currently making.  So, there is money, if you demand it.  I am
not saying a lot, but to think that one has to be a martyr in order to work
in museums is a falsehood.

"Right on" to the writer below!



>If we as museum employees settle for what you are telling us yes we will
>continue to get low paying jobs.  I expect more pay for my degrees and I
>will get more for my degrees.  I think its high time that people started
>demanding the respect that we deserve and it starts one person at a time.  I
>will not work my ass off for some low-level museum job just to get my foot
>in the door.  I will enter this profession with the respect and pay I
>deserve with no thanks to the status quo.
>
>Traci
>>
>>So, that's what I meant when I said it's easier to moonlight when you are
>>young. I speak from much experience, and if I had it to do all over again,
>I
>>would work my ass off to get some low-level museum job that paid crap from
>the
>>get-go because all you need is that first one to get started. If that first
>>opportunity comes too late, it may be impossible financially to even
>consider
>>taking it.
>>


**************************************
Laura J. Dickstein
Doctoral candidate
Arts & Arts Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
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